With the increased use of word processing and electronic typewriting, the age old problem of detecting and correcting typographical or spelling errors in text being keyed into the word processing or typing devices can be more efficiently handled with the increased capability of electronics. The correcting of spelling errors necessitates delays, retyping and corrections and hinders timely completion of typing and word processing work.
Spelling verification features, programs and capabilities or systems known as dictionaries for spelling verification are available on computer systems which are typically used in a word processing environment and on dedicated word processing systems. The number of words stored in a particular data base or dictionary vary in size with the design of the particular system. In many cases, the vocabulary or the dictionary contents are fixed by the provider of the system or the program while, in some cases, the operator may supplement the system with designated words of a particular importance to that operator.
For example, a medical typist would have need for medically related terms in the dictionary while an engineer or scientist would use technical terms of a different nature and would find medical terms of no use.
Words of highly repetitive use or of a particularly troublesome nature can be selectively stored by the operator as part of the spelling verification systems used on word processing devices.
The prior art systems compare the word typed and stored in the memory with the words of the dictionary or the vocabulary to determine whether a compare exists in the dictionary. This comparison is typically performed on each and every word in the document after the document has been completely typed and the spelling verification routine has either been accessed or loaded into the word processing system and the spelling verification routine commanded. The comparison continues until the document has been completely compared on a word for word basis and then the words of questionable spelling are displayed or highlighted. Any word which cannot be verified by a comparison in the dictionary is indicated as a questionable spelling though highlighting or underscoring or other visual attention securing technique to allow the operator to determine whether the word is properly or improperly stored. After the operator has had the opportunity to review the questionable spellings, the operator may indicate that a word is properly spelled and no further action will be taken or the operator may indicate by rekeying that a word is improperly spelled at which point correction will occur and the comparison may, if desired, be accomplished again.
The technique in general described above is available on personal computers which are capable of being programmed to handle word processing tasks and which are provided with programs which perform the spelling verification checks on documents stored in the storage of the personal computer. In addition, word processing systems such as the IBM Displaywriter manufactured and sold by the IBM Corporation has available a spelling verification feature which compares the words stored in the text memory of the IBM Displaywriter with a fixed vocabulary in excess of 50,000 words.
Additional unique operator selected words may be stored for comparison if desired.
Typewriters by their very nature of printing the document as the keys are depressed by the operator do not provide an opportunity to review the entire document and to, through highlighting or other visual indication, indicate potentially misspelled words for the operator. Typewriters also don't have loading capability for loading supplemental dictionary and thus fixed dictionaries would be the only dictionary available on a traditional typewriter without magnetic media.